rhymephile, posts by tag: computing - LiveJournal

Whoo, I had a black touch of death with electronics this week for some reason. But after all those tweets I made about having issues with Windows 10 when they pushed the update, I had to reinstall the operating system.

I also had to buy Office 2016, but it's fine. I can write it off on my home business taxes.

Whatever the issues were, I have a feeling it had a lot to do with all the crap left on my system after I upgraded from 8.1 to 10. My HP had all their bloatware and crap that blew something up, so the only thing to do was a fresh install and wipe everything clean. Cleeeaaannn.

I'm still not up all the way, and I have a bunch of software I need to reinstall, but a shout out to the Firefox extension XMarks for restoring my hundreds of bookmarks after I had to reinstall Firefox, and also thanks to the Classic Theme Restorer extension function so I can make Firefox less awful. Hooray.

And now I shall be looking into buying some external hard drive that will automatically back up my files whenever I add them. I don't have much on my computer, but the majority of the important stuff were files for my editing business. I had a panic attack when I thought I couldn't access them -- including ALL the images and files I used for my website. GAH.

But the panic has passed and whatever broke is fixed (fingers crossed this doesn't happen again though!)

And I think I responded to everyone...I've been down for a week so I might have missed a few comments. I apologize if I did!

You guys, LJ finally released a new app for Android! YAY. This means I can stay in touch easier. I'm using it right now as a matter of fact, and it's 100 times better than the old one.

Still some kinks to iron out (like I can't figure out how to delete notifications) but overall a huge improvement!

Also, the tags are awesome!

It was finally time to upgrade from my cute but slow netbook with XP to something new. This stemmed from the freelance editing I was doing and the need for a faster processor and upgraded version of Word. After doing a bunch of research and comparison shopping in the store and online, I chose a HP Pavilion G7.


Wallpaper used for the skin created by violue, also http://violue.tumblr.com/

( Specs for nerds, as well as more images and how I got that awesome Dean/Cas skin, under the cutCollapse )

Want your Compose window in Gmail to pop up in the center of your screen instead of defaulting to the bottom right corner, where you can't see shit? Sure you do!

Simply hit Shift + C and that window will pop up right in front of your nose the way God intended. If you do that and it doesn't work, be sure your keyboard shortcuts are on. Click on the gear icon then Settings at the upper right of the Gmail window, and then under General you'll see the ticky box for Keyboard Shortcuts.

You can also hold Shift and click the Compose button if you'd rather not turn on shortcuts.

This happy little tip brought to you by lifehacker.com.

LOL For some reason my LiveJournal mood was set to "blah" when I opened the composition window. Perhaps it's telling me something.

You'll recall last year when my Kindle Fire's battery swelled and burst from its plastic housing through no fault of my own.

Luckily it was still under warranty and Amazon replaced it.

Earlier this week I bought my first Kindle book. Yeah, I know, I still prefer to purchase actual physical books, but two were reference books and one was so cheap I couldn't pass it up. I bought 2000 to 10,000: How to write faster, write better, and write more of what you love; The Emotion Thesaurus; (which gives you words to describe feelings, e.g. "satisfaction" has "a crisp nod," "arms crossed," "clapping," "a sleek walk that draws the eye," and more) and more Western research, Terry's Texas Rangers: The 8th Texas Cavalry.

I downloaded the 2k to 10k and Texas Rangers books to my Kindle, and left the other one in the Cloud.

Last night I tried reading one of the books already on my device, and all I kept getting was a gray screen with an orange "Kindle" icon in the center. Weird. Then I tried to download the third book and nothing happened. I even tried logging on to my account online and sending the book to my Kindle again, but nothing happened.

Well, the first guy I called at Amazon's Kindle support couldn't figure it out, even after we did a hard reset, a deauthorization, and re-sync.

I then had to talk to a Kindle specialist and the only solution was factory resetting the Kindle. Which meant anything on my Kindle that wasn't in the Cloud got nuked. I had side-loaded some apps that are available on the Android store but not the Kindle store, and lost all those. All my free games also got nuked. It wasn't a big deal since I hadn't used the games in a while, but still. Luckily all my books and other apps were restored, but I had to set up my email again and log on to everything all over.

I can imagine this might happen to other people who use their Kindles more often, which would be a major issue. Luckily, everything I paid for was there and it all worked out in the end.

I forgot to mention Because I had to call Amazon for service, I got a free month of Amazon Prime! Cool.

I don't feel like paying $10 for extra userpics. With my paid account and loyalty userpics I have 61. That's enough. Besides, my paid account renewal is coming up and I'd rather pay for that instead.

How does it work when I decide not to renew my one large userpic package? Do they delete the ones after 61? Or do they delete in the order they were uploaded? I'm going to save them all to a folder on my computer so I can upload them again whenever, but has anyone let their paid package lapse and can tell me what they lost?

Ah, Megaupload. We had some great times.

Remember when I got to watch all of Downton Abbey Season 2 when it was just a mere glint in the eyes of PBS here in the States?

And ooh, do you recall me downloading episodes that my DVR forgot to record using the cable system I legitimately pay for?

Oh, and remember when I downloaded various Supernatural episodes, even though I already own the DVDs, because converting files from avi is so much easier?

Those were the days.

I am all for media freedom. I will gladly pay for the right to watch television that's aired in other countries if you give me that option. Don't give me that "This video is not available in your country" bullshit. If Downton Abbey aired in the UK way back in September 2011 and I would prefer to watch it at that time instead of when PBS in the US gets damn well good and ready, I want that choice. Why is that so difficult a concept?

Like HBO. Why can't people who want to watch, say, Game of Thrones have the option of paying a couple of bucks in order to download episodes? Why must we pay almost $25 a month to get the HBO service? Or why must I pay $70 for the overpriced DVD sets?

Chances are Megaupload will be back, but placed under a stranglehold of new rules and regulations, just like they killed Limewire and Napster.

For those of you who say we can just use another download service, prepare yourselves. The Internet is in the process of changing. It's never going to be the same after this.

There was yet another LJ release the other day. The post mentioned that the fonts in the HTML and Rich Text editors were now the same. Someone mentioned we wanted the original font back (like the one seen when you type in the comment window) from before the last release since this font is so tiny and irritating and I can't tell commas from periods. I commented in agreement with this, but this time I actually got a response!

I said:
I thought this is what we have been bitching about too. It's nice the html and the rich text editors match, but we want it back to the original font, like the one still used in comments.

I still have trouble telling the difference between periods and commas in the new font!

The response was:
There's still a patch planned to get it back to the original font/what shows up in the comment form (it's not as easy to fix as it sounds, unfortunately), this was done more as a quick temporary improvement over what's been showing since the last release.

So there's still hope that one of these days we can have the old font back.

There was a new LiveJournal release the other day that messed with stuff that didn't need messing with. If you use the html posting window for your posts you'll notice the font has gotten barely readable. In fact, I just typed that period in the previous sentence and can't even see it on my netbook. Shit, I say.

They also "improved" the hover menu, which is that pop-up screen you see when you hover your mouse pointer over someone's userhead. Before, you could use it to send the user a PM, or get linked directly to their user info, which you can't anymore. The hover menu is also huge and ugly and when it pops up for me, I actually have to scroll up on the screen to see it. Shit!

You can disable the hover menu for now, first by going to the LJ admin console and then:

To enable: set opt_ctxpopup Y

To disable: set opt_ctxpopup N

Basically, just copy and paste whichever you want after the colon into the console, and if the code turns green when you click "execute," you're good to go.

Apparently -- and this I never knew -- to get to someone's profile all you have to do is click their userhead. So I'll be doing that from now on and turning off the ugly hover.

LJ, stop "fixing" what's not broken! What my eyes and I really need fixed soon, however, is this awful font size in the html posting interface. I have bad eyes as it is and this horrible font makes posting nightmarish.

You'll recall I mentioned I was attending an end-of-summer luau/Polynesian themed party in two weeks, and I was shopping on eBay for tiki mugs and Hawaiian shirts.

My GF picked out a neat tiki mug as well on eBay, and hers came today. The description said it was a tiki mug/cup, with no chips, cracks, or anything wrong with it. He looked pretty cool, so she bought it for $20 plus almost $10 shipping. I opened the package today and was surprised to discover something inside the mug: CANDLE WAX! The hell?! I was pissed off that this MUG had been used as a damn candle holder -- and still had vanilla-scented wax in it! None of this was mentioned in the item description. If it had said something like "tiki vase" or "tiki decoration" it might have given me pause. It didn't. How was my GF supposed to drink from it?

I logged in to GF's account and blasted off a firm yet annoyed email to the seller, saying that no where in her description was it mentioned that this mug had previously been used as a candle holder, and really, WTF? The seller agreed to refund the money along with the cost of return shipping, and rightfully so.

Which is all fine and good, except now we have to go through the trouble of returning the thing, and we also have to search all over again for a cool-looking tiki, which is more difficult than you might think.

UGH, effing eBay. I hate when people are shady. I've earned a paltry 93 stars on eBay, all from purchases, and I've only had this happen on rare occasions. Luckily this seller will pay for shipping but most of them don't on returns.

Grrr, stupid eBay.

Today, August 10th, marks twelve years to the day that I have had a Hotmail account. I created it back in 1999 when I had WebTV, the first integrated set-top box that plugged into the TV for access to the net.

We couldn't afford a computer back then, so WebTV allowed me dial-up access to the net, including email and Usenet, which paved the way to where I am today with fan fiction. I was wrapped up in Usenet and alt.tv.x-files.creative and mailing lists, back when online fandom was being born. The WebTV box had a little indicator that would light up when I got email. I still recall the excitement of seeing that red light to let me know someone had sent me feedback about one of my stories.

Man, those were the days.

I used WebTV for years, into the 2000s in fact. Then my brother was able to get me a used computer through his job, and I gave it up after that.

But since WebTV had no storage space, I had to have another email account in which to store stories and feedback. I couldn't save anything as I was creating it, either. I would type up parts of a story and send it to Hotmail, and then combine all the parts in order to send it to the mailing lists. Thank God for Gossamer back then; I would never have been able to go back and look at my early work without it.

The neterati consider Hotmail obsolete thanks to the all-powerful Google, but they don't use something I've come to love with Hotmail: the "Sweep" function. I click on my spam and hit Sweep, and all of it is automatically added to my block list and kept out of my inbox completely. With Gmail you have to create a filter -- frankly not a straight-forward process -- and it doesn't work as easily.

I bitched about Hotmail not too long ago because I was having problems with it, but after a virus scan (and subsequent cleaning up) it's been okay. It still has its occasional hiccups, but it works consistently from everywhere and it's still my primary address for anyone who needs to contact me. I don't plan on abandoning it any time soon.

I was still having LJ connectivity issues this afternoon, so if you're experiencing it as well it's not just you. Looks like SUP is going after the hackers who've been causing all these problems in Russia; with any luck something will be done. Me? I want them to migrate Cyrillic users to their own extra-protected server. Perhaps that will prevent site-wide outages and they can battle hackers in a more confined area.

Via Lifehacker, here's an extension for Chrome and Firefox that allows you to update Facebook and Twitter from Google+. By using the extension you can have all your feeds in one place, and it has buttons that allow you to select to which social network to post. That is, if you have Facebook and Google+, which I don't. I use Twitter under my fandom name and that's the ways I likes it!

And now that it's August, I join the ranks of the millions of uninsured again. My COBRA has expired, and despite applying for entry level jobs and even volunteer jobs, I still have nothing, and thus, no insurance. Going to have to try and stay healthy for a while!

With the recent LJ outage I was killing time at night on Tumblr, basically looking at Supernatural and Dean/Cas themed blogs. Here's more of what I've discovered about Tumblr from a fandom perspective.

It is almost entirely a visual medium. It's a place to post photos, gifs, illustrations, art, and macros. If you're a writer you're out of luck because no one wants to read shit on Tumblr.

If you can't make gifs or colorful Photoshopped screencaps there's no point to Tumblr.

Once you've seen certain themed gifs on one person's blog, you don't need to look at other blogs because everyone shares the same shit over and over. And over.

If you're the originator of some piece of art, you're lucky when rebloggers post attribution.

You can have an incredibly popular blog without creating anything unique yourself.

IF YOU CAN'T SPELL, DON'T MAKE PHOTOSETS. Good Lord. I know spelling isn't that important to most people on the net, but if you're making a macro learn the difference between "it's" and "its" and know it's actually "masturbate" and not "masterbate." UGH.


If you're an visual artist who can create clever little animated scenes from TV shows, you've got it made on Tumblr (which is surging in popularity). Otherwise, fucking LJ needs to fix itself and remain viable for those of us who don't.

Anyone in the market for a wireless laser mouse? Best Buy is having a sale on the Logitech M510, which is one step down from their top-of-the-line mouse, for only $19.99. It's $35-40 everywhere else I looked online. Plus you get free shipping (you do have to pay tax if there's a Best Buy in your state). There are two programmable buttons, a very low-profile USB plug (which is one of the reasons I wanted this for my netbook), the dongle can control up to six other wireless Logitech devices, its batteries last for two years, and it has a low battery display.

The mouse is available to order, although it is backordered right now, but if you're not in a hurry it's a really good sale. I bought two.

ETA If you've had difficulties with the screensaver file, I've re-uploaded it and double-checked to be sure it worked. I've also included two other download options below!

Inspired by dannyblue's post on how to make your own screensaver, I decided to make one featuring all the best BAMF-y Castiel scenes from Seasons 4 through 6. Blasting demons, zapping angels, performing Castiel-fu, it's a screensaver of badassery.

Obviously, this sucker is full of spoilers. Please do not click behind the cut if you haven't seen Season 6.

The full list of episodes, an embedded video so you can see exactly what the screensaver looks like, download link, and instructions on installation, behind the cut.

( Damn, that's one BAMFCollapse )

Please excuse that SEO-heavy subject header there.

If you've upgraded to Firefox 4.0+, you'll notice that there have been a couple of annoying little tweaks that change the user experience slightly. I've already mentioned how to fix a few of them but today I discovered another one.

I've been trying to break my GF's habit of using IE for everything and recently got her to take up Firefox. Today, while adding the Adblock Plus add-on, I noticed that I couldn't move the icon up to the top next to the Google search bar where it's always been on my computer. Apparently this has been driving other people crazy too.

I experimented a bit, and found a solution (which I also subsequently posted to Firefox Help). I've copy and pasted it here for you:

First go to View > Toolbars > and click Add-On Bar. The bar will now show at the bottom of the Firefox window, displaying all your add-ons.

Next, go up to the top, right-click on a toolbar space, and select Customize.

Now, with the Customize window open, click and drag the AdBlock Plus icon (or whichever icons you'd like) from the Add-On Bar into the Customize window. Once it's in there it will disappear from the Add-On Bar and you can then select and move your add-on icons around with ease, back to where they always were.

Finally, either uncheck Add-On Bar from the View > Toolbars menu, or simply click the little x at the bottom left corner of your screen to close the Add-On Bar.


Hope this helps anyone who hates that Add-On Bar!

Firefox 4 has recently been rolled out, and if you've applied the update you may notice some annoying changes from what you're used to. Here are some quick steps on how to fix them, since they were driving me crazy too.

Q: How do I get my tabs to go back to the bottom of the toolbar?

A: Easy. Go to View > Toolbars > and uncheck "Tabs on Top"

Q: What happened to that little carot I could click on my Back button to choose how far to go back to visited pages?

A: Click and hold the arrow now instead, and you can open a drop-down list of previously visited pages.

Q: Why the heck doesn't Firefox save my tabs on exit now?

A: I know, annoying, right? But it does automatically save them. Instead, now you have to specify what you want to open when Firefox starts. Go to Tools > Options > General. To have Firefox open all your tabs from your previous session, where it says "When Firefox Starts" click on the drop-down menu until it says "Show my windows and tabs from last time." Next time you start Firefox all your tabs will be there.

Also, remember that you can customize the menu bar at the top of the page to add or delete icons. Right click in the upper menu bar and select "Customize." Then you can drag and drop icons that makes working with Firefox easier.

I know Google is bound to take over the universe and rule with Facebook in an evil plutocracy, but can we first get Gmail's shitty services to work?

You may remember a few weeks ago my RhymePhile Gmail account was hacked. This morning I logged on to my real-name Gmail account to find that I had been spammed by my RhymePhile YouTube account, which is connected to my RhymePhile Gmail account. JEBUS. How the hell did that happen?

When this happened previously, I actually deleted all my contacts in my RhymePhile Gmail to prevent it spamming others just in case. I am so sick of my RhymePhile Gmail account being compromised that today I deleted it outright. (So, y'know, don't e-mail me there if you have in the past) They make it extremely difficult to delete it, and I had to (ironically) Google it to figure it out.

That meant I had to create a new false identity Gmail, in order to link that to my YouTube account because you MUST have a Gmail account to log in to YouTube. Why the fuck is that necessary? Other than Google seeking to control the Internet of course. ETA: I also can't be logged in to both YouTube and my real-life Gmail accounts at the same time! ARGH.

You can link Gmail identities and even set it up so that it will automatically bring in email from your other accounts, but I don't want to do that for obvious reasons. All someone has to do is hack into one identity and they can have access to all my real-life stuff.

And no, I don't have some silly "password" password or "12345" type of thing. I use phrases and numbers.

Also, once the Playstation Network comes back online after its own recent compromise, I'll have to change the password there as well. Luckily they didn't have my credit card info since I haven't purchased anything with them. They say credit card numbers weren't stolen, but let's just assume they were and err on the side of caution.

This is why I choose to remain as anonymous as possible on the net, and change my passwords frequently. I'd advise you to do the same.

At the beginning of March Facebook rolled out a new commenting system for third-party websites. It will allow greater connection between the sites you frequent and what you post on Facebook.

A site can choose to use this new Facebook integrated comment system instead of a traditional no-holds-barred commenting system.

For example, let's say website.com chose to use this Facebook integration instead of having traditional comments. In order to leave a comment on website.com, I would 1) need to have a Facebook profile, 2) log in under that profile, and 3) post the comment.

Then, you have the option of also cross-posting your website.com comment right onto your Facebook page. Of course, this option is already helpfully checked for you by default. If you don't want your comment to website.com spread all over your Facebook page, you better remember to uncheck it! But then here's another kicker: if one of your friends comments on your cross-posted comment on your Facebook page, their comment also shows up on website.com unless they make sure to uncheck a button.

The website TechCrunch is already using this new Facebook integrated system, and they say it has cut down on trolling. Obviously everyone is now held to a stricter commenting etiquette because you now must use your real name!

What if I want to comment on sexytimes.com and they only use the Facebook system? What if I comment and forget to uncheck that ticky box already checked by default? What if all my co-workers and my family get to see where I am spending my time online?

Here's a view opposing the new Facebook integrated commenting feature, one I strenuously agree with. Of course, none of this applies to me since I don't have a Facebook account, but I will also never get to comment on TechCrunch because of it.

Facebook wants to rule the Internet. You know what I think is going to happen? We will need to create a Facebook profile in order to access anything online. Everything we do will be passed through that Facebook filter first, so they can make their billions, and then we can access the web.

It's an incredibly scary prospect.

I was contacted by a staffing agency Thursday after they saw my resume -- which I had recently updated -- on Monster. On Friday I had a phone pre-interview for a (temp!) web editing position in New York City. This morning I e-mailed the staffing agency to ask if they had heard anything, and they had not. As of 12 hours ago, the agency put the job listing up on their LinkedIn page. *sigh*

LinkedIn is good to have to keep in touch with current and former work colleagues. But you know what sucks about it? Reading that the kid reporter you worked with and edited for years ago at the small newspaper who could never tell the difference between "to" and "too" is now a blogger for a huge tech site. And the other kid you trained, who, albeit a nice guy, is now working for the New York Post. *sigh*

My poor girlfriend had to get one of her wisdom teeth removed today. She was a trouper and was actually back from the dentist before I got out of the shower. That guy is fast. I can sympathize, because I had almost every baby tooth pulled out of my head starting at 7 and ending at 15. I made her scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes and steeped tea bags so she could hold them in her mouth to stop the bleeding, but I feel like I should do more to comfort her. *sigh*

You may remember back in 2007 when my kitteh Butternut was really sick and I was taking her back and forth to the vet for about two weeks. Through that whole time, the veterinarian, Dr. Eric Hudson, took amazing care of her. He even called me on the weekend to check up on her. I sent him a card with a photo of Butters enclosed to express my thanks. About a year and a half or so ago Dr. Hudson was on vacation with his family and dove into the pool and hit his head. It was actually minor, but apparently he got a scan/check of his head anyway. They found a large tumor, and despite a long struggle, he died late last week from brain cancer at 52. He was such a warm and friendly guy, and loved animals. He will be missed. *sigh*

I was investigating Tumblr this afternoon, trying to figure out if it would be a viable place to start my real person social networking (*gag*), just to post some of my photography.

I guess it could work, but I really have trouble navigating the whole system. You don't ever start on your blog page, you start on your "Dashboard", where you can read everyone you're following. You can search by tag, but you can only read them in your Dashboard -- you can't click off them to go to the person's blog and see that individual post; it brings you to the person's main landing page. You can "Like" or "Reblog" stuff, but you can't actually comment. You can post photos and give them a description, but unless you use a "Text" post rather than a "Photo" post, you can't give the post a title. Just the photo shows up. I don't know...am I doing this wrong? I don't get it. I think I've been spoiled by LJ.

There are plenty of fandom people there of course, and I played around with the #deancastiel tag a bit. People have fic on there, and there are an amazing number of "Like"s on some of these stories which are...mediocre to say the least. I feel like LJ is the quintessential spot for fic.

I know I need to create a professional blog and Twitter. It's like starting all over again, though. I don't know anyone, and it feels pointless posting on a stupid blog no one is going to read. I had one before I came to LiveJournal, and they're really like online diaries because no one is reading but you.

*siiiigh* I may play around with Tumblr. But unless you watermark your photos and others are honest about where they've found photos to "Reblog," I fear that theft would be rampant.

Give me back my anonymous Internet, dammit!

Google may rule the netverse, but it still can't prevent its e-mail service from being hacked.

If you received an e-mail from me last night into today, don't open the link. Obviously.

Now I have to go and change all my passwords, just in case. I don't keep the same passwords in the same places, but now I have to go change them anyway just in case.

Dammit!

ETA: The weird thing is if that my friends didn't e-mail and tell me my account was hacked, I wouldn't have known it. My old password still worked when I logged in. I just spent the past two hours changing ALL my passwords across the net (no two are the same!) with brand new passwords I've never used before.

How ironic that last night I was speaking about online privacy and anonymity! *sarcastic LOL*

Does anyone use Dropbox for backup, sharing, or online storage?

Here's how it works:

After downloading, Dropbox adds a folder to My Documents on your computer. Anything you put in there will be automatically uploaded and synced to the Dropbox website, as well as all your computers running Dropbox.

When you put files into the Dropbox folder on one computer, and they'll automatically appear on any of your other computers that also have Dropbox installed. That means I can change my resume on my netbook, and open it later on my desktop and have the version be the same.

My netbook doesn't have a CD drive and I got tired of sticking things on a flash drive every time I updated something or wanted to back it up. Now I use Dropbox, and if the (Heaven forbid) worst occurs, all my stuff is safe at the Dropbox site.

When you update something within the Dropbox folder, it will automatically sync that change with the site and your account.

There's even a specified folder to share public files. You can send people a link without them seeing your other stuff.

There are a few online companies that offer this, but with Dropbox you get 2 GB with your free account and the auto sync. You can read more about the specific features right over here.

If you sign up for the free account now, you can get an extra 250 MB of storage (and I get some too for referring you).

It's a pretty light program and hardly uses any memory -- which is good for me on my netbook. On my Dropbox, I have my resume, all the icons I've made on my netbook, and a bunch of music kept only here. Now I don't have to worry about losing anything.

If you click and sign up from this link you'll get the extra 250 MB. Check it out:
http://db.tt/UdksvyX

So you know those Sony commercials that advertise the Playstation 3 entertainment system can do everything? They are not wrong.

I don't want to watch downloaded TV shows or movies on my 10-inch netbook, nor do I want to watch them even on my girlfriend's 17-inch laptop. I have a 40-inch Samsung HDTV that I bought a few years ago, hooked up to a Sony receiver and an Onkyo speaker system. That's where I want to watch stuff.

A year ago, in order to watch freshly downloaded UK episodes of Torchwood: Children of Earth, (and cry through all of it)I ran a physical cable from my desktop in the bedroom out to the PC connection on the TV. Sound would come through the TV speakers, and although it wasn't ideal it did the job.

Now, with my Playstation 3 and an additional piece of freeware called PS3 Media Server, I can stream any downloaded file directly from my netbook onto the Playstation 3 and watch it on the big TV, through the speaker system. PS3 Media Server converts pretty much every file format out there, even the stuff the PS3 doesn't handle by itself. It is glorious.

I can surf the net with the PS3. I can watch videos, stream Netflix, stream music, play video games, and watch DVDs and Blu-rays. I sound like a commercial, but for $299 it's become the workhorse of my little home theater setup. Right now all I play is Red Dead Redemption because I am addicted liek whoa, but video games are only one of the few things I use my PS3 for.

Now if it could find me a job, I would be set.

I have just edited my very first Wikipedia entry! Ooh, I feel tingly.

I watch Laverne & Shirley on network The Hub (used to be called Discovery Kids, but they changed the name and now they air much better shows) at 11 p.m. every night, and in tonight's episode "Airport '59," Laverne mentioned her middle name.

I knew Shirley's name was already listed on the Laverne & Shirley Wiki entry, so when I heard Laverne's middle name -- Marie -- I decided to add it.

It wasn't super easy, actually. But I figured it out.

Behold, TV trivia lovers! I am influencing the future!